PENTICTON — The Okanagan Skaha School District is putting forward a second option when it comes to reconfiguring its Summerland area.
At a closed meeting held on Tuesday, the Board of Education of School District 67 passed a motion to put forward a new option for public consultation, just two weeks before the school board trustees are slated to provide a final decision.
“I think it’s just unreasonable to get that kind of good deep thinking and the solutions that we need in such a short time,” says Gillian Stevens, a PAC member at the elementary school.
The board says the option would move from an elementary and middle school model to a primary and intermediate school model.
The option (known as Option I) is as follows:
- Giant’s Head Elementary School: kindergarten to grade three
- Summerland Middle School: grade four to seven
- Summerland Secondary School: grade eight to 12
- Trout Creek Elementary: closure
The school district says the option outlined above would alleviate concerns brought forward at public meetings and through online input regarding the first option.
The first option (known as Option E) is as follows:
- Giant’s Head Elementary School: closure
- Summerland Middle School: kindergarten to grade seven elementary
- Summerland Secondary School: grade eight to 12
- Trout Creek Elementary: kindergarten to grade seven
The school district says the concerns surrounding Option E have been in regards to the loss of exploratory blocks for grade six and seven students and in regard to the costs of retrofitting the middle school into an elementary school.
READ MORE: Summerland council speaks out against school closure proposal
The proposed plans to reconfigure south Okanagan schools and potentially close some of them down is due to a significant decline in enrollment.
Feedback can be submitted through the school district’s website as well as at a public consultation meeting at Trout Creek Elementary School from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, January 12.
The previous deadline for feedback submission of January 10 has now been expanded to January 15 due to the addition of the new option.
Decision day remains on January 20 at an open meeting of the Board of Education. The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. in the IMC building behind the School Board Office.
Comments